UPDATE: It gets worse. Chis Mooney has provided some additional details. As more and more is known, my tendency to say to ‘William’: “oh, stop confessing and just get back to blogging, we forgive you” is turning into “OMH, you fuckhead, please slit your wrists now” … except I’m afraid he’d do it and I’d feel a little bad about it. For a minute or two. Anyway, check this out: Appalling Revelations about “Tom Johnson”
This is interesting enough to bump to post status; More information from the Buddah is not Serious YNH Confession Thread.
Chris Mooney wrote this on The Intersection last October:
Reacting to a previous post, a scientist named Tom Johnson left a comment so striking that I believe it deserves greater attention. Here it is:
Many of my colleagues are fans of Dawkins, PZ, and their ilk and make a point AT CONSERVATION EVENTS to mock the religious to their face, shout forced laughter at them, and call them “stupid,” “ignorant” and the like – …
… When my colleagues do this, you can watch the attention visibly disappear from the crowd when you finally start talking about conservation and real science.
Exactly. In the real world, it is vastly more important to build bridges with those who might be different from ourselves so as to achieve shared goals, than to score intellectual points when only a small and relatively homogenous intellectual group is even keeping track of those points.
It turns out that Tom Johnson is the YNH blog guy, was not a scientist or a grad student, and made all that stuff up.
Later, Chris was moved to write a blog post titled My Thanks to “Tom Johnson”. Nothing major, just a “thanks” to “Tom” for saying … just the right things at the right time.
“Tom Johnson” has firmly asserted, by the way, that Chris Mooney and Shiril Kirshenbaum had nothing to do with this fakery.
If I was Chris Mooney, I’d be really really mad. If I was PZ Myers, I’d be even more mad.
Go to Oedepus Maximus’s site to read more aftermath.
Have you read the breakthrough novel of the year? When you are done with that, try:
or Paperback
*Please note:
Links to books and other items on this page and elsewhere on Greg Ladens' blog may send you to Amazon, where I am a registered affiliate. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, which helps to fund this site.
If I was as crazy as some here have contended (or implied), I honestly doubt that I’d be hearing from certain prominent defenders of evolution, with whom I have been in contact, primarily via e-mail correspondence. Nor would I be hearing directly from Greg (which I have), with regards to my online conduct here (At least Greg has written back; I have yet to hear anything from Chris, period, starting with what his real reason was for bouncing me off The Intersection.
Ooh! Ooh!, Can I name drop too? ‘Cause I’ve not only had two way communication with prominent defenders of evolution and Greg, one of those prominent defenders of evolution is my brother. Not only that, but when I communicated with Chris via email, not only did he respond via email, he also responded with a blogpost.
So, I wrote that, when, last month? Moron, that was approximately two years ago.
What? You’ve suddenly gained credibility in that time?
You’re on the record – a rather long threaded record, defending reviewing a book you haven’t read. Not only that, but you were fucking proud of it. Intellectual whore I might be, but I’m also intellectually honest.
And I also don’t take it as a point of pride to have written reviews.
I’m about to stop since this is taking up too much of my time, damn it.
Betcha don’t.
“And all those here condemning John Kwok seem to forget one central fact, that he has consistently written fine and glowing reviews of books on evolution written by the very people whose atheist tactics he condemns, namely Dawkins and Coyne. John is wise enough to separate these people’s science from their atheism and one would think that PZ’s supporters would be too. John has also written scathing critiques of books on creationism such as those by Stephen Meyers and Bill Dembski. With this record I find it remarkable that, irrespective of whatever else he might have done, he is trashed as an ‘unhinged’ accommodationist and atheist-basher. You guys need to get some perspective on things.”
Posted by: Ash | July 10, 2010 6:08 PM
Having read an argument where you voraciously defended writing a review of a book you didn’t read, I am not impressed. Nor do I care what some random person who calls themselves Ash has to say. I am not accusing you of being an unhinged accommodationist atheist basher. I am accusing you of being an unhinged, egotistical, vacuous asshat, with the intellectual honesty of Kent Hovind and the intellectual acumen of a guppy – or Ray Comfort.
No, John. You tried to use Greg’s silence as leverage against other people; i.e., you tried to use him to support your suggestion that they should shut up. Greg’s silence on the matter doesn’t support you trying to close down an thread of conversation. Greg’s disinterest in your hypothetical camera doesn’t imply the proper level of anyone else’s interest.
And “projecting” is just one of the words you’ve used in this thread that you really, really ought to look up. Once you’ve done that, you can explain how pointing out that your arguments don’t line up constitutes projecting. For that matter, you can explain just exactly what it is you think I’m projecting.
Then you can tell us what that quote has to do with whether you’re supporting your arguments well.
If an actual threat was made against anyone, I would take it seriously. But it wasn’t, by any definition of the word, a threat. The person who wrote it knows it, PZ knows it, Sheril knows it; even John Kwok – despite lying about it – knows it. I’d say you know it was well, but you’ve apparently decided you aren’t getting enough attention from posting easily discredited nonsense at Pharyngula – probably because everyone who used to bother with you has killfiled you – so you’ve come over here to try to shill your drivel to a new crowd who’ll eventually come to loathe you like we did and treat you accordingly. I hope it works out for you. I don’t understand masochism, but that doesn’t mean I have a problem with it.
Wowbagger, you seem to have mistaken me for a John Kwok sock pupput. HE has been banned from Pharyngula and from ERV’s blog. AFAIK, I haven’t.
For those who can’t be bothered searching through the comment to check but who still remains unsure about exactly how detached from reality John is, this is what Dale said in #226:
Yes, folks, this – being referred to as annoying and overusing a hackneyed expression but that he shouldn’t be ‘singled out for abuse’ – is how low John’s standard is for considering a comment a glowing endorsement.
So making a fair, balanced, and accurate statement about someone is not a good thing, and John’s accepting it is a bad thing? Your personal hatred of Kwok is clearly clouding your judgement.
Is Ash someone famous? I ask because Kwok is mentioning him almost as often as he does McCourt and Miller.
If it’s the android from Alien, don’t trust him!
This thread makes me feel like I’ve woken up in a Ingmar Bergman flick.
Hey David, if I agree with you, can I be Max Von Sydow?
DuWayne,
OK–now who gets to be Liv Ullmann?
surely someone has pointed the rational (wiki) version of the Kwokster by now?
I think this says all that needs be said about the esteemed Mr. Kwok, sucking toady to the stars…
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/John_Kwok
…though I have to say a quick glance through this thread is probably sufficient as well.
what gets me is after all these years, is just WHY Kwok won’t visit a therapist and at least have himself checked out?
sad.
As the person who made the comment that Kwok still calls a death threat, I would like to address John personally.
YOU MENDACIOUS DOUCHE, YOU ARE COMPLETELY FUCKING INSANE. GET HELP.
Sorry for the wall-o’-text cut and paste, but I think it’s appropriate. Feel free to nuke if you disagree, Greg.
Nuisance called name-dropping
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071001/edit.htm#5
NAME-DROPPING is a practice of knowingly inserting references of famous people or institutions into a conversation in order to seem more important to the listener. Though it is considered a negative or even an offensive quality, many people see it to be an interesting art. All of us in our lives have met such persons who at the slightest pretext punctuate their talk by putting big names or high connections irrespective of the need and context.
Psychologists view name-dropping as a behavioral disorder arising out of hidden inferiority complex. Many times name-dropping becomes a compulsive habit where a man by sheer luck achieves something which he doesn’t deserve.
..
Compulsive Lying
http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/confront a liar/public/compulsive lying.html
A compulsive liar will resort to telling lies, regardless of the situation. Again, everyone lies from time to time (see, when lovers lie), but for a compulsive liar, telling lies is routine; it becomes a habit and a way of
life.
Simply put, for a compulsive liar, lying becomes second nature.
Not only do compulsive liars bend the truth about issues large and small, but they take comfort in it. Lying feels right to a compulsive liar. Telling the truth, on the other hand, is difficult and uncomfortable for a compulsive liar to do.
And like any other behavior which provides comfort and an escape from discomfort (i.e., alcohol, drugs, sex), lying can become addictive and hard to stop. For the compulsive liar, lying feels safe and this fuels the desire to lie even more.
Making matters even more complicated, compulsive lying is often a symptom of a much larger personality disorder, which only makes the problem more difficult to resolve (see, NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER and borderline personality disorder).
Unfortunately, compulsive lying is hard for the person involved to see, but it hurts those who are around it. Compulsive lying, if not addressed, can easily destroy a relationship (for example, see why does he need to lie).
Compulsive lying can be dealt with through counseling or therapy. But, like many addictive behaviors (and/or personality disorders), getting someone to admit they have a problem with lying is the difficult part. Sadly enough, getting someone to recognize that he or she has a problem usually requires hitting rock
bottom first.
..
Narcissistic personality disorder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), is a personality disorder defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV-R), the diagnostic classification system used in the United States, as “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy.”
Pathological narcissism occurs in a spectrum of severity. In its more extreme forms, it is narcissistic personality disorder. NPD is considered to result from a person’s belief that he or she is flawed in a way that makes the person fundamentally unacceptable to others. This belief is held below the person’s
conscious awareness; such a person would typically deny thinking such a thing, if questioned. In order to protect themselves against the intolerably painful rejection and isolation that (they imagine) would follow if others recognised their supposedly defective nature, such people make strong attempts to control others’ view of them and behaviour towards them.
People who are overly narcissistic commonly feel rejected, humiliated and threatened when criticised. To protect themselves from these dangers, they often react with disdain, rage, and/or defiance to any slight criticism, real or imagined. To avoid such situations, some narcissistic people withdraw socially and may feign modesty or humility.
Though individuals with NPD are often ambitious and capable, the inability to tolerate setbacks, disagreements or criticism, along with lack of empathy, make it difficult for such individuals to work cooperatively with others or to maintain long-term professional achievements. With narcissistic personality disorder, the person’s perceived fantastic grandiosity, often coupled with a hypomanic mood, is typically not commensurate with his or her real accomplishments.
The exploitativeness, sense of entitlement, lack of empathy, disregard for others, and constant need for attention inherent in NPD adversely affect interpersonal relationships.
Gabbard saw the “hypervigilant” subtype as easily hurt, oversensitive and ashamed. He suggested that the hypervigilant subtype, far from fending off devaluation, is obsessed with it, neutralising devaluation by seeing others as unjust abusers.
Dale Husband appears to be working hard to be Kwok’s successor.
well, everyone has to be good at something, I suppose.
John Kwok wrote:
Is that a death threat? Now you’re making death threats. Okay, let’s see – what’s the criteria for judging whether something is a death threat or not? Oh, that’s right – according to you it requires someone to perceive it as such and write a comment saying as much on a blog.
DuWayne wrote:
Then a genuine death threat it is. Heh heh heh. I do love a good petard-hoisting.
Oh, but well done on finally reading Dale’s comment about you, grasping exactly what it is he said and realising that you probably shouldn’t be citing it as an encomium.
Dale Husband wrote:
Where did I say you were banned? Are you referring to my use of ‘killfiled’? Killfiled doesn’t mean banned, dumbass; it’s a script for Firefox that means users can hide the comments of people they don’t like – particularly boring, whiny pissants like yourself.
Sheesh.
You and John should get together and take remedial reading comprehension classes.
Did I write that it was a bad thing? No. Because it’s not; I think it’s reasonably accurate and would be a fair comment to make if John didn’t troll blogs boring people senseless with the constant references to his school, the ‘argument’ that the existence of religious scientists means that religion and science are compatible, and various members of the esteemed McCourt family.
But the point is that John is only ‘singled out for abuse’ as a result of that. If he chose instead to focus on saying what he needed to say without adding in the same laundry list of anecdotes and dropped-names then I don’t imagine he’d get anywhere near as much abuse as he does.
Also, I don’t ‘hate’ John, personally or impersonally; I find his posts in general to be repetitive and annoying – I hope his oft-mentioned manuscript uses a wider variety of expressions than those he uses (and re-uses, consantly) in his blog posts – but I do admit I’ve been taking him to task for the repeated lie about threats on Pharyngula, and I make no apologies for the vitriol I’ve shown in doing that.
Which I’ll keep doing if I notice him bringing the topic up again.
You know who I pity? Malachy McCourt. He must feel like he’s got a leech on him that he just can’t shake off. I imagine he thought that with the passing of his brother into that eternal Kwok-free night, he would have heard the last of Kwok and his incessant prating about his manuscript-in-progress.
But no. Now that brother Frank is gone, the toadying name-dropping has simply been transferred over to Malachy.
“Thank GOD!” he must exclaim, “for unnamed Journalism Professors and random blog commenters like Ash and Dale to siphon off at least a LITTLE of the creepiness!”
[BTW: Does anyone else agree with me that “Angela’s Ashes” was WAYYYYY over-rated?]
@ Stu –
Thanks for revealing yourself. I was wondering who the New Atheist creotard was who had posted the threat that he claimed later was a joke. Since Adam Bly has an official blog here at Science Blogs, maybe I ought to report you to him.
@ PZ –
I did tell Greg I hope to have dinner with you, him and Mike Haubrich when I visit Minneapolis. Having heard a glowing report about you from Susan Sackett, I thought I should give it a try. Don’t disappoint me please, since she thought you were a wonderful gentleman. Who knows? I might just dedicate my unpublished novel to you…. after giving top billing of course to my “Dad”, Frank McCourt.
@ Tom –
Malachy forgave me for all of my sins last August, immediately after the Roman Catholic service held in the memory of his brother Frank (which he, as a practicing Buddhist and Atheist, had requested of the Franciscan brothers who operate that church). I think a friend of his, actor Gabriel Byrne, overheard us (Didn’t speak to him, but I did speak to another famous friend of Malachy’s, actress Kate Mulgrew, thanking her for attending and mentioned that i had been a student of Frank’s. Sorry folks, didn’t say anything about “Star Trek: Voyager” to her then since that wasn’t the appropriate time or place.).
@ Tom –
You remind me of a Limerick radio talk show host, Gerry Hannan, who made a career for himself knocking down Frank McCourt at each and every opportunity. After Frank died, he decided to make peace, by joining virtually every Facebook group and fan page devoted to Frank McCourt (Not even I can claim such an achievement, since if I did, I’d have to cancel several Center for Inquiry groups that I, as a Deist, belong to.). Much to his credit, he didn’t make a fool of himself by condemning the McCourts or the sculptor who maed a bronze cast of Frank’s head, when that sculpture was unveiled in Limerick last May.
Since you like the name Frank McCourt so much, don’t worry. You still have the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers to contend with (And that Frank McCourt will never be as memorable or as dedicated as George Steinbrenner. May George rest in peace.).
@ Wowbagger –
As it was pointed out to you by some real posters at The Intersection, that “joke” posted at Pharyngula wasn’t one to be taken lightly (even Sorbet thought it was reprehensible, and that’s from someone who hasn’t been a fan of Chris and Sheril.). That’s also been pointed out to you here at Greg’s blog. Therefore, that means I didn’t lie back in March, nor am I lying now. But of course, since you are a delusional ignorant intellectual troll, you can believe whatever you wish.
@ Stu –
It just occurred to me. You could have said,
“Kwok, I’ll Kwok you sideways with a Leica rangefinder”.
Then that would really hurt (But I am sure that if you ever do visit New York City, I’ll make certain that photographer Bruce Gilden does “kwok you sideways” with his Leica M8 and a big, potato-masher type electronic flash that he always carries around with him.). I’ll make certain Sheril gets a copy of that. She’ll probably keep it around…. for target practice.
Damn – that’s two threats from Kwok, and the last one includes name dropping (I assume, I have no idea who the hell that is, but I can guess where he went to high school). I wouldn’t use “kwok” to replace fekking, since that can be pleasurable, but when I sit and take a kwok…that is more appropriate.
But, please go on, this thread is hilarious and will make good reading when I’m stuck at work tomorrow with nothing to do.
Dear John,
the first rule of holes is that when you find yourself in one, stop digging, but as youâ??re providing so much unwitting entertainment to many readers here: by all means keep it up.
For instance, do you have any other tangentially-relevant names you could possibly drop in this thread, to add to your already fulsome list comprising Brian Greene, Tracy Day, Andrew Revkin, Carl Zimmer, Francisco J. Ayala, Eugenie Scott, Kenneth R. Miller, Lisa Randall, Sean Carroll, Leigh Van Valen, Neil Shubin, Frank McCourt, Malachy McCourt, Cornelia Dean, Pete Hamill, Robert Spencer, James Yee, Austin Dacey, Massimo Pigliucci, Gabriel Byrne, Kate Mulgrew, Gerry Hannan, George Steinbrenner, Bruce Gilden, and who could possibly forget, the latte-sipping recession victims of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Regards, Philip
Thanks for revealing yourself.
I’m sorry, what? Was I hiding? No, no I was not. Liar.
I was wondering who the New Atheist creotard
If you were wondering, three seconds of Googling could have punched up the original comment.
Hey, wait. Creotard? What? Coming apart at the seams a tad, aren’t we Johnny?
was who had posted the threat
Lie. Pathological lie. If you think “f*ck them sideways with a rusty knife” is a threat, you have serious problems with reading comprehension. If you maintain this after things have been explained to you several times, you are a liar, as well as sick in the head. Thank you for proving my point once again.
that he claimed later was a joke
It WAS an intentionally crude joke, as my footnote (* this comment to be whined about on the Colgate Twins blog mid-2011) would show even if you were completely ignorant of context.
Since Adam Bly has an official blog here at Science Blogs, maybe I ought to report you to him.
Please do. Oh, please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please do.
No empty threats, John. Go for it.
I’ll make certain Sheril gets a copy of that. She’ll probably keep it around…. for target practice.
Holy Hakalela you are delusional. Sadly, Greg moderated my earlier copy-pasta of the DSM categories you’re exhibiting, so I’ll have to summarize. NPD and/or BPD with a raging inferiority complex, either causing our coupled wih pathological lying.
I’d love to get a psychiatrist to see how far off I am.
Hmm. Who went to the same high school I did?
I love it when I’m right…
Err…Right about the last line I mean…
SOCKPUPPET! SOCKPUPPET!
(Sorry, could not resist)
@ Philip –
Thanks. I had forgotten. If I need a character witness, I’ll be sure to call on you.
@ Stu –
Yes, you act just like a typical delusional UD creotard. Know the irony meter just went off the scale, but that’s the sad truth.
@ Everyone –
Yes I did promise I would stop posting here, but my curiosity got the better of me when I saw that both PZ and heddle posting (@ heddle, I think Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” or “Rashomon” might be more appropriate, but sure, this is getting not only Ingmar Bergmanesque, but may I also suggest, Monty Pythonesque too (That is if Hitler and Goebbels were members of that team.).).
And I am serious about having dinner with PZ one day, without any preconditions except for two (which I won’t name here, but neither one includes a Leica M7 rangefinder camera, or comes remotely close).
John Kwok,
You have not addressed the issue of your having made death threats against Tom Ames and DuWayne in post #276.
Remember, according to your rules, all it takes to verify that something is a threat is for another person (or sock-puppet) to write a comment on a blog implying that they perceived it as a threat – see DuWayne’s comment at post #278. Despite the fact that both the context and the syntax of the phrase in question clearly shows it wasn’t in any way a threat, we have to – using your rules – consider it a genuine death threat.
So, be sure to let Adam Bly know about this when you let him know what Stu wrote.
Jebus. No, I would not have lunch with John Kwok. Looking at the full-on meltdown spectacle here, I wouldn’t want to come within 10 miles of the guy. He’s scarily demented.
@ Stu –
Maybe you should ask Sorbet. He didn’t find your “crude joke” funny.
I’ll let you guess whether I do know photographer Bruce Gilden. But I know Bruce – if he has the time – would gladly honor my request. As for Sheril, we still have quite a few mutual friends in common, so even if I didn’t contact her directly, an image of you would get into her hands, one way or another.
Now you were saying something about seeking a psychiatrist? Speak for yourself. Joking about rape isn’t something to be taken lightly. Tell the next woman you see that very “joke”, especially if it’s a stranger. Would love to hear what happens next; a black eye, or a hard slap of your face, maybe?
John Kwok wrote:
Yet you yourself have made death threats that we’ve all seen. How can you be such a hypocrite?
Now you’re threatening violence against Stu? Okay, so the count is one death threat each to Tom Ames and DuWayne, and now a threat of physical harm against Stu. Are you going to threaten me next?
@ Wowbagger –
Telling someone to drop dead – which is what I said to both Tom and DuWayne – isn’t the same as threatening to rape and to kill someone (which is what Stu said over at Pharyngula). Have a good night.
@ PZ –
Wouldn’t have expected to you to accept. I’d probably be spending lunch with Mike and Greg trying to separate the two of us from landing blows on each other. That’s a shame IMHO, but realistically that would be the most likely outcome. Especially when I have substantial issues with you that go far beyond your banishment of me at Pharyngula, threatening to defriend me at FB, or even how you reacted – which I had predicted beforehand, but decided to do it nonetheless – when I made my Leica “threat”.
Oddly enough, we may agree on Chris Mooney’s gross journalism blunder with respect to his handling of “Tom Johnson”, but not necessarily for the same reasons BTW. You may think that your side has “won”, but all I see is mere sanctimonious hypocrisy from someone who has allowed his blog to become such an intellectual cesspool that you would condone a threat to rape and to kill others, and then, not only accept the poster’s lame excuse that it was a joke, but to compound the error by paraphrasing it in yet another of your diatribes against the Roman Catholic Church (though this time, not the American edition, but instead, the Irish one).
John,
the thread had been Godwinâ??ed already, but I canâ??t help noticing your Monty Pythonesque suggestion is somehow quite appropriate.
Regards, Philip
Why isn’t it the same? No, I’m sure you made a death threat. DuWayne thought so too and commented thusly, and that’s the most important criteria according to you.
But I’m willing to be convinced otherwise. Please cite the exact words of Stu’s comment – the one you seem sure was a threat – and explain to us how the words he used made what he said constitute a threat when suspiciously similar words from you do not.
John, you’ve so far threatened – based on your own rules for such things – to kill two posters and injure one here on Greg’s blog. How can you possibly criticise PZ for allowing something you yourself have done?
Jebus. No, I would not have lunch with John Kwok.
for some strange reason, I’m now picturing Kwok as the irritating ass Sam, without the positive ending…
I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam I am.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=NHqXBZFZ6OA&feature=related
Kwok,
Jeez, you need to learn how to take a joke. You’re showing less of a sense of humor than Frank McCourt.
the first rule of holes is that when you find yourself in one, stop digging,
…at this point, I rather think John needs to learn the first Rule of Not Being Seen.
Yes I did promise I would stop posting here, but my curiosity got the better of me when I saw that both PZ and heddle posting
No, you have just shown yet again, that you have no credibility. You argue in favor of reviewing books you haven’t read, you threaten to kill me and Wowbagger, you claim to be serious about having dinner with PZ Meyers, then claim you didn’t expect him to accept and you failed to go away after claiming you were all done here.
All that bullshit in one little thread. If you didn’t know all those really spiffy people, one might think you’re full of shit.
First of all: Yay to Greg. @312 is my wall-o’-text that describes Johnny to a frightening degree. The one part that did not make it through (SB comment length restrictions, nothing Greg did, thank you) is how unlikely it is for people with NPD/BPD/narcissistic disorders to even see anything is wrong with them, let alone seek help. The statistics are very discouraging, and John Kwok is here as Exhibit A of the once funny, now sad and pathological extent this denial will take an intelligent person.
Sad.
Observe.
Yes, you act just like a typical delusional UD creotard. Know the irony meter just went off the scale, but that’s the sad truth.
Sweetheart, just because you’ve read PZ and Orac for a week or two does not enable you to bastardize their pet expressions. Such theft will only work if you actually knew why these people would use said expressions, what they mean by them and who they address.
So, let me try to break this down for you.
– UD?
– Creotard?
– Irony meter? Just because you’ve read Orac for a week does not imbue you with the requisite self-awareness to realize when people are applying said phrase to you.
– Obviously. Jebus Tapdancing Cripes.
– Wait, hold on.
– CREOTARD?
– As a Pharyngulite?
– Wait, creationist?
– Really?
– I’m sorry, John. Did you recently have a stroke? I’m sorry. I really am. I should not make fun of the disabled.
– REALLY?
isn’t the same as threatening to rape and to kill someone (which is what Stu said over at Pharyngula).
You are a lying sack of shit John. You lie. Get help.
Holy freaking GOATS ON FIRE.
Oddly enough, we may agree on Chris Mooney’s gross journalism blunder with respect to his handling of “Tom Johnson”, but not necessarily for the same reasons BTW. You may think that your side has “won”, but all I see is mere sanctimonious hypocrisy from someone who has allowed his blog to become such an intellectual cesspool that you would condone a threat to rape and to kill others, and then, not only accept the poster’s lame excuse that it was a joke, but to compound the error by paraphrasing it in yet another of your diatribes against the Roman Catholic Church (though this time, not the American edition, but instead, the Irish one).
You people appaul me, too, with your obsessive infighting and mockery over minor differences.
All this sock puppetry has consequences, you know.
I lost my partner today, and it wasn’t even laundry day.
Won’t anyone think of the missing socks?
Best. Name. Ever.
PZ,
I’m pretty sure it’s the guy with the chainsaw from Evil Dead. I’m impressed.
Be smart, shop S-Mart!
Posts 316, 317, and 319 are a parody of Kwok, not the man himself, right? I mean, no one could honestly, in good faith, not-as-a-joke drop that many names in so little time in so supremely creepy a manner, could they?
After reading this thread, I propose adding a subset to Poe’s law. Kwok’s Law: a) Any parody of John Kwok’s writing is indistinguishable from the real thing; b) A true parody of John Kwok’s writing is impossible to achieve, as the real thing will always be more ridiculous than you could imagine.
I don’t know if this thread makes me want to laugh, cry, or call the authorities.
Greg, the fx15 blah blah is a script that copies a post from another thread/blog just to be able to hyperlink some Turkish herbal Viagra.
Well, at first I thought it was going to be just a waste of time, like actually parking the car and taking half an hour to stare at a crumpled fender. But I take it back – I’ve laughed myself into fits, and that is never a waste of time. Thanks to all the sock puppets, and the gang at the Met, and oh that hilarious unpublished manuscript.
I lost my partner today, and it wasn’t even laundry day.
Have you talked to that Kermit bastard?
@ Ophelia –
Congratulations on being a “star” over at The Intersection. Should have guessed that you’d have the chutzpah “to demand” reinstatement over there. I wouldn’t dream of it, for reasons I have stated already.
Anyway, I’ll have the last laugh when I do get published (which, I may note, one friend is hoping for, and that friend is a noted American writer of our generation. He’s even given me some thought as to how I shall deal with PZ one day. Some time ago, at a charity benefit, he had a cream pie “duel” with another writer, a PZ-esque character who once dubbed my friend “the worst writer of our generation”.). When it’s time for a sequel, I can’t think of a more appropriate protagonist – thinly disguised of course – than you.
Thanks Kwok. Yes you have “stated” your “reasons” already – about eight times, I think. My reasons for what I do are different from your reasons for what you do.
It’s so exciting to hear that one friend (of yours, presumably) is hoping that you do get published. With that hope at your back, you can’t possibly fail! Especially since this friend has the honor of having been called the worst writer of somebody’s generation. That is some rock-solid credential!
Kwok,
Oh, do please tell us who your friend the “noted American writer of our generation” is! I bet you guys go out for beers and everything, and that he’s a big fan of your writing!
(Oooh, this is so exciting! .I can’t WAIT to find out!)
John, when people are calling you out for pathological name-dropping, obviously caused by a raging inferiority complex leading into NPD and/or BPD… you might not want to respond by name-dropping.
Also, if you write as well as you comment, you’d better start lining up vanity publishers right now. I’d rather read all the Twilight novels, twice, than more than two to three paragraphs of your clinically insane drivel.
I have to admit that I have not yet come across anyone who needed his ego to be so constantly stroked and validated by citing (fictitious?) associations with famous people to the degree that Kwok does. For all we know he may have been serving us bull-crap on this one too; for instance, what’s the evidence that Kwok ever went to Stuyvesant or that McCourt ever taught him? Is this the Goebbels lie which gets accepted as the truth just because it is repeated ad nauseum? I for one am not buying any connection between Kwok and Frank McCourt or Stuyvesant unless I see some evidence.
Ophelia:
You’re judging it “hilarious” without even reading it?
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Beeks: Let me see, you would be from Austria. Am I right?
Ophelia (not Benson): No, I am Inga from Sweden
Beeks: Sweden? But you’re wearing Lederhosen!
Ophelia (not Benson): Je, for sure, from Sweden.
Another thing John; why waste time with these idiots by posting so many comments? Everything you said can be summed up in a single long comment:
“Blah blah blah MCCOURT….blah blah blah LEICA ….blah blah KEN MILLER….blah blah SOMEONE GIVE ME ATTENTION…blah blah MALACHY…blah blah KEN MILLER…blah blah blah ATHEIST FUNDAMENTALIST…blah blah I NEED TO STROKE MY EGO…blah blah blah YOU PEOPLE SUCK!…blah blah MOMMYYYY!”
There…no, you don’t have to thank me. You are most welcome.
Just watch what the hell you’re saying about Sweden now.
@ Sorbet –
Thought you’d have something more substantial to say like pointing out just how crude, bizarre, and obnoxious that Pharyngula “joke” to rape and to kill Sheril Kirshenbaum and Chris Mooney was.
Funny you would think that, after having heard about my association with Frank McCourt, that you would want to verify it. One of your fellow Pharyngulite loons should have done it by now. See if you can dig up the March 1998 issue of Biography magazine (cover photo of actress Elizabeth Shue), which contains a substantial article on him, featuring extensive quotes from me
@ Stu –
At least I don’t post threats to rape and to kill two prominent Discover Magazine bloggers and then say, oh, am sorry, just joking folks.
As for my writing, enough people have seen it (both fiction and nonfiction) to comment favorably on it. In your case you could start by reading my Amazon.com review of Jerry Coyne’s “Why Evolution Is True”, Richard Dawkins’s “The Greatest Show on Earth”, and Michael Behe’s “The Edge of Evolution: The Limits to Darwinism”.
If my writing here isn’t quite as good as my reviews, etc. at Science Blogs, do you think that maybe it’s because I don’t have the ample time or interest to waste so I can rebut each and every instance of your breathtaking inanity? Before commenting further on my writing, why don’t you start working on yours, so that it doesn’t sound like this:
“Kwok me sideways with a Leica rangefinder”.
Gee whiz. Even Katy Perry can write better lyrics than your trite, lame, and risible excuse for a threat…. oops, sorry, I mean “joke”.
@ Ophelia –
Not to harken back to an earlier thread at The Intersection, I’m sure Katy Perry had you in mind in the opening stanza of “Hot N’ Cold”, which I won’t repeat here.
I do promise, however, that if I become famous enough to front a rock band, I’ll sing a version of one of Ms. Perry’s songs, entitled, “I Kissed Ophelia Benson… and I liked it”.
Lest it be forgotten…
That was abt sixty comments ago, yet you’re still here. One might your obsessed. Obsessed, and based on #359, going into creepy stalker guy mode.
At least I don’t post threats to rape and to kill two prominent Discover Magazine bloggers and then say, oh, am sorry, just joking folks.
No, you just threatened to kill Wowbagger and me, then pretended you didn’t. Also there are the threats to hurt others.
Oh, and of course there is some seriously creepy fucking bullshit thrown at Ophelia Benson. Not reasonable insults or inane death or violence threats, instead you’ve dived headlong into creepy stalker guy mode. You have the audacity to talk shit about some comment you have failed to actually point us to, or copy and paste, then start into some creepy stalker shit.
I lost my partner today, and it wasn’t even laundry day.
AHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAAHA!!!1!!1!111!!!!
John –
I’m a evile, murderous bastard. I have killed no less than twenty-eight sockpuppets (we won’t even talk about the muppets – or that goddamned pig). I even ate a lint baby for dinner last night.
I am, as it were, bad to the bone. Only not in that late eighties good way. More like a “I was a kind but tortured soul, then after several years with the goddamned pig I fucking snapped and went all sorts of fucking naughy.”
John, you’re a creepy asshole.
For someone who keeps on claiming he has more important things to attend to in life, you sure seem to spend a lot of time commenting John. Oh wait, I forgot I am talking to a name-dropping hypocritical stalker with skin thicker than the earth’s mantle. I am sure your idol McCourt must be spinning in his grave, disgusted at your descent into depravity, desperate craving for attention and now, creepy stalking.
John,
At least I don’t post threats to rape and to kill two prominent Discover Magazine bloggers and then say, oh, am sorry, just joking folks.
Liar. You filthy, stinking, sad, pathetic little liar.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/03/stop_using_the_lens_of_your_pr.php#comment-2337598
Thousands read that comment, including women and rape victims. Not a soul took it to be a threat. Since it is not only anatomically impossible, not only an exhortation at best instead of a threat, but also — even out of context — an obvious, dismissive insult and nothing more. This is obvious to a 10-year-old. That is not clinically insane and a pathological liar, of course.
Sheril quoted it out of context to get some page hits. By now, you are the only person on the face of the fucking Earth who persists in lying about it. Do you understand, John? You are the ONLY PERSON STILL SPEWING THIS CRAP. Just you. Will you at least admit that? Only then can we proceed to why that might be.
As for my writing, enough people have seen it (both fiction and nonfiction) to comment favorably on it. In your case you could start by reading my Amazon.com review of Jerry Coyne’s “Why Evolution Is True”, Richard Dawkins’s “The Greatest Show on Earth”, and Michael Behe’s “The Edge of Evolution: The Limits to Darwinism”.
It’s not the style I was talking about, it’s the content. I don’t care if you are Shakespeare incarnate, since you’re nuttier than the contents of the main vault at the Federal Bank For Squirrels, John.
Before commenting further on my writing, why don’t you start working on yours, so that it doesn’t sound like this:
“Kwok me sideways with a Leica rangefinder”.
I don’t think I sound quite like that, since I wasn’t the one who said that.
I do promise, however, that if I become famous enough to front a rock band, I’ll sing a version of one of Ms. Perry’s songs, entitled, “I Kissed Ophelia Benson… and I liked it”.
I hope you seek professional help before you hurt somebody.
Seriously. Care to run that gem and my original comment by a mental health care professional and see who gets the lithium prescription, John?
Kwok, as mentioned above, nobody except you believes that the words on PZ’s blog constituted a threat, not even Kirshenbaum. They may have been anything else, but a threat they were not. If you are really that hell-bent on believing it was a threat, then do your civic duty and report it to the police. Otherwise shut the f*k up, because as Stu said, you are the only soul on the planet who obsessively believes it was a threat.
Either you are the sole deluded believer or you are the despicably irresponsible citizen who doesn’t report a crime. Take your pick. Anyway…I think I have had enough of crazy for today.
Seriously? That was the threat? I think worse than that every few seconds or so.
Like what I’m thinking about Stu’s fucking Socks, right this very fucking moment.
Hmph…Ha…Heh…HHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHASHAH!!!!!!!!11!1!!1!
Help! Help! I’m being oppressed!
Reading Kwok’s posts in a Jon Lovitz voice really helps*:
“Not to harken back to an earlier thread at The Intersection, I’m sure Katy Perry–WHOM I have SLEPT with–had you in mind in the opening stanza of “Hot N’ Cold”, which I won’t repeat here.”
(*You might think that I’m on close personal terms with Award-winning comedian Jon Lovitz. But I couldn’t possibly comment.)
I, Kermit F., am not “Kermit the Serial Sock Murdering Frog.”
I am a glove puppet, and I say that proudly. Look it up if you don’t know the difference.
I don’t appreciate being sock-puppeted. That is simply beyond the pale, and maybe actionable libel. LIBEL, I SAY!
I will be contacting my lawyer about subpoenaing Dr. Laden’s blog logs, to verify this libel with IP addresses.
Kermit TSSMF, you have been warned.
Kermit F., OM:
Splitter!
That is hate speech. I’m definitely reporting this to SMG.
Pepsi scandal my frequently-violated sock puppet ass. Who the fuck cares about Pepsi anyhow? It’s just colored sugar water.
This is serious hate speech and you people just accept it. You make me sick.
Glove PUPPET, sock puppet, motherfucking muppet – don’t matter TO me – I can kill ALL Y’ALL!!!!!1!1!!11
AND pigs.
Though WHY you would want to BRAG about being a ME lookalike with a HAND up your ass is beyond me. Whatever floats your boat I guess…Until you *DON’T* hear me COMING that is…AHAHAHAHAAHHAAAHAHAHAH!!1!11!!!!11
Psychotic OR not, EVERYBODY knows THAT the REAL Kermit IS a muppet hating MUPPET!!1!1!!!1111!!
MMMMM!!11!!!1 Stuffed SHEEP!!11
Right, Lamb Chop, right. You’re one to talk, after you and Shari helped Kukla and Fran screw me out of all the residuals.
Kiss my gaping sock puppet ass, you hypocritical anti-reptile bigot.
Oh. You too, Kwok. Death threats? You don’t know shit about death threats until you’ve been a reptile. (Yes, even a fucking fake reptile made of textile scrap. Yeah, scrap, not even a real fucking sock. What of it? Fucking garment bigots, all of you.)
You’ve never known the sheer terror of minding your own goddamn business and hearing some dubmbass redneck cracker saying “Marge! Get the hoe! Get the hoe!” and running for your life without any goddamn legs.
Try it sometime, Mr. “oh noooo, somebody said fuck you to somebody!”
And all those famous guests on our stupid pandering bigot kiddie show? I slept with all of them. Every goddamn one, I did ’em. Some of them three or four times, if I felt like it.
Top that, Mr. “Gabriel Byrne overheard me say something once”—like Gabriel Byrne wasn’t walking rapidly the other direction already. You know he was.
And yeah, I slept with Gabriel Byrne too, damn right I did. I was not impressed, not even a little bit. Fucking “Gabriel Byrne overheard me.” Shit.
Y’know what, Kwok? I found a dime once. I found a dime!
Yeah, that’s how interested I am. That’s how impressed.
Get yourself a sock, yeah, a smelly gym sock, and put it in it.
Fuck all of y’all anyway.
Oh, fuck you TOO asshole!!!1 I fucking HATE muppets, BUT I’ll kill any fucking BODY!!!11!111 Don’t give a shit WHAT you’re made OF asswipe – I ain’t NO fucking bigot!!111
Unless you’re a pig.
And on that motherfucker. You think you got it bad – just because some fucker and his HOE? You layed all THEM fine human women and YER gonna bitch about it to ME!?!??@?@
You know what the fuck I had? DO YOU KNOW!?!?!
A PSYCHOTIC FUCKING PIG!!11!1
Only it gets worse ASSHOLE!!! Do you know, as full of self loathing as I was – as tired of Piggy’s incessant fucking tirades as I got sometimes…I loved her…I really did love her…I mean fuck all, it was hard – maybe it was just part of hating myself.
BUT I LOVED HER MAN!!!!1!
And you know what SHE fucking did to me? After getting rid OF that hot chick I met WHEN I lost my memory?!!??!!
SHE FUCKING RAN OFF WITH THAT MOTHERFUCKING FOZZIE BEAR!!11!!11!!!!!
They’re in THE south fo fucking France now. And IF I hadn’t smoked all MY fucking movie loot out of a fucking crack pipe, I’d go THERE now and win her back!111!
BUT I did SMOKE it all!!11! HAD a fucking heart attack TOO!!111 BUt I must BE part cat, ’cause I’M still alive…Like you WON’T be for LONG motherfucker…
I got ME a HOE and IM coming after YER ass!!11!!!
Hey, wasn’t it Ollie that was the reptile, and Kukla that was the little bald guy?
Figures.
Dumbass sock puppeter screws up, gets caught. Film at 11.
@ Everyone –
Am surprised you haven’t decided to infest Panda’s Thumb too since Dale and I have been making some great points about how insensitive, mean-spirited and hateful this absurd cast of Fundamentalist New Atheists and their sockpuppets (DuWayne don’t you have any hobbies aside from creating sockpuppets? Oh, I forget, you’re probably some backwoods hick who doesn’t have ready access to any of the cultural amenities that one would find in Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, or even in Knoxville.).
Do wish you all well and I hope you get a life. Seriously, I mean it.
A typo, so am reposting:
@ Everyone –
Am surprised you haven’t decided to infest Panda’s Thumb too since Dale and I have been making some great points about how insensitive, mean-spirited and hateful this absurd cast of Fundamentalist New Atheists and their sockpuppets really is (DuWayne don’t you have any hobbies aside from creating sockpuppets? Oh, I forget, you’re probably some backwoods hick who doesn’t have ready access to any of the cultural amenities that one would find in Chicago, New York, Minneapolis, or even in Knoxville.).
For someone who is allegedly as unhinged as the RationalWiki entry on me claims, then how come my comments tend to be more rational than yours? Just think about for a bit, say an hour or so, before posting anymore of your coarse language-flavored slime, please.
Do wish you all well and I hope you get a life. Seriously, I mean it.
…then how come my comments tend to be more rational than yours?
You seem to be making the mistake of conflating the use of language with the quality of the statements John. You are not the least bit rational or logical. You are inconsistent and dishonest, not to mention a fucking hypocrite. You apply different standards to others, than you apply to yourself. And rather than simply being arrogant, you’re conceited. Not only that, but you get indignant when people point this out.
I am an arrogant asshole. The difference between us is that I am aware of this and don’t pretend that I’m not. I also admit when I am wrong. If someone else convinces me that my position on something is wrong, no matter how much I may not want to, I acknowledge both my position change and the person who inspired it. While that may occasionally hurt my pride, not doing so would hurt my pride even worse. And on occasions when I am inconsistent, or worse, apply different standards to others than I do myself, I acknowledge it and apologize.
I don’t pretend that it simply didn’t happen.
As for taking the time to fuck around here, I am doing so because a) I really don’t like you and b) it’s fun. I have the time, more or less, because I have finished two of my summer classes and only have an independent study in world security left. The assignment I am working on currently is long and boring, writing a chapter by chapter response to the major text for the class. Popping over to blogs is very useful for breaking up the tedium.
Oi, and you won’t find me at PT, because unlike you, I’m not a creepy stalker guy. Though given your penchant for engaging logical fallacies, maybe I should. Here’s a little tip, my distaste for you has nothing to do with my being an atheist and everything to do with the sort of person you are. You seem to have an inane sort of dichotomous view of atheists that is as laughable as it is narrow.
It is also unsurprising, given your complete ignorance of elementary logic.
John Kwok,
‘Am surprised you haven’t decided to infest Panda’s Thumb too since Dale and I have been
making some great points about how insensitive, mean-spirited and hateful this absurd cast of Fundamentalist New Atheists and their sockpuppets really isenjoying what can only be described as a circle-jerk for pissant losers either banned or hounded from Pharyngula, The Intersection and elsewhere for gratuitous acts of inanity.’Fixed it for you. No charge.
@ DuWayne –
You’re not an “arrogant asshole”, but an ignorant, sanctimonious one, who is a “creepy stalker type” judging from some of your absurd posts at your blog.
@ Wowbagger –
Thanks for demonstrating once again that you are a delusional ignorant intellectual internet troll. You’ve just made my point. Congratulations!
John Kwok,
‘Thanks for
demonstratinginforming anyone who didn’t already knowonce again that youI, John Kwok, amarea delusional, ignorant, demonstrably intellectually dishonest internet troll – as evidenced by how many places I’ve been banned from.Fixed. Say, if you let me know when your manuscript is done I’ll give it the once-over.
@ Wowbagger –
Once more you’ve demonstrated that you are a delusional ignorant intellectual internet troll. Don’t need to elaborate further, since you’re doing such an impressive job by yourself.
Have a good day. Can’t devote more time in addressing each and every instance of your breathtaking inanity, which really comes across as a most putrid verbal diarrhea.
John Kwok,
‘Once more
youI‘ve demonstrated thatyou are aI, John Kwok, am the pre-eminent delusional, ignorant, intellectually dishonest internet troll. IDdon’t need to elaborate further, sinceyou’reI’m doing such an impressive job byyourmyself.Phew, John. Really, I can’t be doing this for free any more – I’m going to have to start charging you. But I’ll happily give you a bulk discount for your manuscript – though I hope you display a wider range of expressions in it than you do here; the tired, hackneyed phrases you keep using get very boring after the third or fourth time.
Are you familiar with the concept of the thesaurus?
Gotta say,
I hate the “fixed that for ya” tactic. It’s almost always cheap and it’s soooooo 2003.
@ heddle –
Wowbagger thinks he is still living in 2003, in his favorite Romper Room. Poor boy. Guess he has a most acute diaper rash.
Ok, I have to bite. Just what the fuck appears to be stalker or absurd at my blog? The post about the Cold War? The post about my own children? The post about kids using very dangerous plants and why they shouldn’t? The post about the psychology of rapists? The post about witch hunts? The post about meaning without religion? The post about my partner getting into a PhD program? The post about online exams and failure on the part of my schools IT staff? Registering for classes? International studies? My writings about morality? My writing about the insane law in Arizona?
I am curious what exactly is absurd or stalker like – please feel free to be specific. Though I have a feeling you’re just trying to smear what you haven’t actually read.
heddle wrote:
You’re probably right, but why waste ‘A’ material on on a ‘Z’ buffoon like Kwok?
John Kwok wrote:
Geez, John. Am I going to have to be your researcher as well as your editor? Fine, but it’s going to cost you extra. Anyway, according to Wikipedia Romper Room finished in 1994 – which I probably also need to inform you is before 2003.
You should also note that we Australians don’t use the word ‘diaper’; they’re called ‘nappies’ over here.
Once more you’ve demonstrated that you are a delusional ignorant intellectual internet troll.
Right, that must be why he’s banned from a bunch of sites.
Oh, wait.
Can’t devote more time in addressing each and every instance of your breathtaking inanity
Oh sweetheart, you’ve said that several times before, but your pathology will not let you.
, which really comes across as a most putrid verbal diarrhea.
Gaah, forgot to erase that final clause. Oh well.
Oh, by the way:
how come my comments tend to be more rational than yours?
Only to you John, only to you.
Doesn’t it strike you as odd, John, that you have to search so far and wide to find one or two people that agree with you? Doesn’t it strike you as odd that you keep getting moderated and banned everywhere? Don’t you think that if it is either the entire world or you that is crazy, at least theoretically, IT MIGHT BE YOU?
Apparently the fact that Kwok is banned even from blogs whose authors he agrees with still does not strike him as odd. Only an especially dense mind can fail to understand the implications of this fact.
As Stu mentions, in spite of the fact that multiple people of different shades and opinions feel the need to constantly ban and moderate him, Kwok still thinks it’s them and not him (Yes, Occam’s Razor is lost on him). To me this is slam dunk evidence of some kind of psychological disorder. But we all know Kwok is never going to seek help. We can only hope he does this before he harms himself or others.
I am shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, that Kwok has chosen not to explain exactly what is absurd and creepy stalker guy about my writing. Of course given his penchant for reviewing books he didn’t actually read, I sincerely doubt that he has actually read anything from my blog.
I suppose I should probably retract my statement about his being inconsistent. He is rather consistent with his bullshitting.
Yes, DuWayne, about as shocked as I am that he declined to note just what it was that I was supposedly projecting.
@ DuWayne –
I immediately recognized your sock-puppetry here in this thread. So did another friend who often posts online against deranged Fundamentalist New Atheist zealots such as yourself. That’s definitely creepy stalker material IMHO (Not the blog entry on your children, which, BTW, was one of the few redeeming blog entries I saw of yours over at your blog.).
I don’t think the real Max von Sydow would appreciate your appropriation of his identity. How do you think I know this? His youngest son was a college classmate of mine and we’ve recently reconnected online after a long absence. Maybe you think that’s funny, but I think that’s a certain sign of immaturity and mental depravity (Maybe you’re such a backwoods hick, that you are in dire need of cultural enrichment. May I suggest hearing the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia, the Detroit Symphony in Detroit, or the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis as three possible means of doing something far more productive with yourself than indulging in your immature, mentally depraved behavior.
John Kwok wrote:
Considering each one was written in an outrageous, blatantly obvious parody style and, more importantly, were all linked to the blog bearing his name, I wouldn’t be congratulating myself too much on that keen piece of detective work, John.
Sock-puppets are only bad when you can’t tell they’re sock-puppets.
I’ve officially reached the “what’s the point?” stage as regards Kwok. Given who he seems to be, saying anything more to him is starting to feel a lot like taunting or baiting, and perhaps unintentionally cruel. So I’m done.
(I just wish that his wasn’t such a visible face of pro-evolution commenting on the internet. Oh well.)
@ Tom Ames –
How sweet of you. Maybe I’m such a visible face for the following reasons:
“And all those here condemning John Kwok seem to forget one central fact, that he has consistently written fine and glowing reviews of books on evolution written by the very people whose atheist tactics he condemns, namely Dawkins and Coyne. John is wise enough to separate these people’s science from their atheism and one would think that PZ’s supporters would be too. John has also written scathing critiques of books on creationism such as those by Stephen Meyers and Bill Dembski. With this record I find it remarkable that, irrespective of whatever else he might have done, he is trashed as an ‘unhinged’ accommodationist and atheist-basher. You guys need to get some perspective on things.”
Posted by: Ash | July 10, 2010 6:08 PM
@ Tom Ames –
As a postscript, let me note that your latest comment (@ 396) sums up my attitude toward another Science Blogs blogger, whose blog ought to find a new home at Daily Kos. Had that blogger not have a blog that’s rather “memorable”, I strongly doubt that anyone would have known or even cared who he is. Moreover, it’s a bit sanctimonious for him to criticize other, far more prominent, defenders of evolution simply for rubbing him the wrong way with respect to viewing that there is any value to organized religions or seeking to find some kind of “accomodationism” between religion and science.
Someone else online thinks I have obsessed over the blogger in question. That’s far from the truth, since I hardly think of him at all. But, it is a pity that someone who has a talent for explaining science well, would waste his time condemning religiously devout scientists and other “accomodationists” and allow his blog to become an internet intellectual cesspool.
And what exactly clued you into my sockpuppetry? It wasn’t the fact that I continued to hyperlink my blog to the names, so as not to leave any doubt, was it? Or could it have been that I wrote comments that were clearly referring to me, as, well, me?
Creepy stalker material is making references to kissing women and like a coward, calling them a bitch through a song reference. Playing off a comment by someone else, while making clear your actual identity, is not.
As far as the rest of your bullshit goes, I really don’t feel the need to defend myself. If you’re such a pointy headed little fuck, that a little cursing on a blog interferes with your ability to see what is actually being said, it isn’t my problem.
AH, but NOBODY will ever figure out who I AM! Mwahahaha!
@397 –
Jesus you’re FUCKING pathetic. Seriously, GET a life DUDE.
Now THAT I lost COMMENT 400, I’M going to KILL a moose PUPPET!!!11!1!!!!
AHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHA!!!!111!!!1!!
Canuckistan is MINE motherfuckers!!!11!!1111
John. Sweetheart. It’s getting really, really sad now.
I immediately recognized your sock-puppetry here in this thread.
First of all, sockpuppetry implies intent to deceive. DuWayne intentionally linked to his own blog on EVERY SINGLE post made with a fake nick.
Here was my experience John. I saw all these weirdo posts, and I (pay attention) MOVED MY MOUSE OVER THEM, and guess what? My status bar said “debrayton.blogspot.com” on all of them.
I will repeat this.
Sockpuppetry, in the blogosphere, means assuming different personae in order to manufacture the illusion of plurality and consent. The way to do this is to either not provide hyperlinks when commenting, or to hyperlink to different addresses for each persona.
The one thing NOT to do is to post under random names, and link back to the same blog over and over and over again. Because, John, if you do that, people might be able to figure out you are the same person, which would completely torpedo the entire point of sockpuppetry.
But you know that. You have issues with who you are and how you perceive yourself, and those issues cause you problems with perceiving reality. We’ll get back to that.
So did another friend
Okay, John. The way you phrased this makes a few things painfully obvious:
– You have no friends.
– Your acquaintances do not want to be associated with you.
– You feel your opinion cannot hold its own.
– You feel you cannot hold your own.
– You will do anything, anything to what in your mind will cause you to be taken seriously.
– This is not it.
who often posts online against deranged Fundamentalist New Atheist zealots such as yourself.
I rolled 5:1 on Anthony McCarty in the office pool. How did I do?
That’s definitely creepy stalker material IMHO (Not the blog entry on your children, which, BTW, was one of the few redeeming blog entries I saw of yours over at your blog.).
That statement is not even coherent. Please take a deep breath.
John, I know that is hard to believe, but as much shit as I talk to you and about you… you are not a stupid person, and you could do much good in the world. You have distinct, diagnosable and fixable mental issues that can be addressed by any competent mental health care professional. I again, seriously, not as a lark, not as a diss, urge, beg and advise you to go and at the very least be assessed by one.
Pretty please with sugar on top.
He’s quoting Ash again! Who is this “Ash”? Is it someone else he went to school with?
I assumed he is Ash Ketchum. Is that wrong?
Greg @404 wins the whole damn thread. And I couldn’t just leave the thread at 404, could I?
@ PZ –
Instead of worrying about who Ash is (I know who he is but won’t divulge his identity), why don’t you heed his words? Seems to me you should be more concerned about that deranged Fundamentalist New Atheist acolytes of yours who posted a crude threat to rape and to kill others, then claim later that such a threat was really a “joke”.
@ Greg –
Wrong Ash, sorry.
@ Stu –
I’d worry more about being a deranged Fundamentalist New Atheist acolyte of Paul Zachary Myers that I just mentioned, than discussing how I understand sockpuppetry. Otherwise, I’m going to:
Kwok you sideways with a Leica rangefinder.
@ PZ –
You’re a riot. I post several meaningful comments at one of your rare PT discussion threads and you opt to move them to the Bathroom Wall, while retaining replies from several other frequent PT posters. Did someone say that I suffer from a PZ obsession? Au contraire, sounds like the contrary is more true.
Am looking forward to hearing how well your contract negotiations are faring with the University of Chicago and its Department of Ecology and Evolution, especially since one of that department’s most important professors, Jerry Coyne, thinks yours is a first rate mind. I presume there’s suitable office space awaiting your arrival, near Jerry’s office and those of Neil Shubin and Leigh Van Valen.
Let me be the first to extend my congratulations since I understand that your scientific publication record is as highly regarded as your colleague Sean B. Carroll. Right? Or were you telling me the truth when you opted to reply to one of my e-mails, admitting that you are a mediocre evolutionary developmental biologist whose scientific career isn’t worthy of comparison to Carroll’s.
Well hell, maybe we can get this thread to 500 and see if we can’t make this a particularly profitable thread.
…than discussing how I understand sockpuppetry.
And I would seriously reconsider how I understand sockpuppetry, were I you, before you look like even more of a fucking putz.
@ DuWayne –
It takes one to know one. So if I am a f**king putz, then obviously you are too. How else would you know what one is.
But what more can I expect from a backwoods hick who thinks he has acquired some quantity if not quality – of higher education?
Seriously? That is all you’ve got? Motherfucker, it doesn’t “take one to know one,” all it requires is observation.
Come on, how about a repeat of your “Ash” quote? Or maybe you could continue to wow us with more stories of all those spiffy people you know.
Greg gets paid by the click, so I am all for taking this thread to the max.
John Kwok may have delusions of grandeur, but that doesn’t mean I do. I know exactly where I stand in the academic hierarchy, and like where I am.
Keep projecting, guy.
There we go. At least somebody around here understands the meaning of “projection.”
Pants on fire.
@ PZ –
Wow, some honesty from you (@ 411). Maybe you should advise your delusional, quite fanatical, Fundamentalist New Atheist acolytes. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were really as important a biologist as your potential University of Chicago colleagues. After all, you do teach at the “Harvard” of Morris, MN.
Wow, some honesty from you.
Now if only we could get some from you.
Maybe you should advise your delusional, quite fanatical, Fundamentalist New Atheist acolytes.
Like whom?
If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were really as important a biologist as your potential University of Chicago colleagues.
While I am not big on the comment threads at Pharyngula (too large mostly, also some commenters are rather nasty about identity politics), I don’t really see where you’re getting that from. Certainly a lot of people like PZ, but they mostly seem rather keen on his very vocal criticisms of religion – and his interest in cephalopods. I don’t see anyone really making much of anything about his position in academia. Except for you.
Of course you could always provide evidence for your assertion. Not that I expect you will.
Of course one would think, based solely on listening to you, that you are the great American thinker, literary giant and penultimate Amazon reviewer (ok, we also have some person called Ash who also believes the latter) who gets defensive about his right to review books he hasn’t read. One would also think, based solely on listening to you, that you are beloved by the intelligentsia and famed intellectuals of the day.
Interesting that claims you are making about PZ Meyers are theoretically coming from others, while we have to take your word alone for almost* all of yours. Interesting, and kind of sad, given your penchant for exposing your lack of credibility.
* This would be a great time for another cut and paste of Ash’s comment.
Kwok you sideways with a Leica rangefinder.
You just threatened violence and rape! BAROOOOGAH! Does Sheril know? Are you going to turn yourself in?
The police ought to know John. A violent, threatening rapist is on the loose!
What does John Kwok do? Does anyone know? What’s his day job?
I can only assume that, since he’s heaping scorn on someone for being a college professor focused on teaching, his own work must be more substantial, more prestigious and more helpful to society than educating young people in science.
Wowbagger, is the office pool slot for maternal subterranean dwelling management taken?
My god, is this train-wreck-of-a-thread still going?
-Of course one would think, based solely on listening to you, that you are the great American thinker, literary giant and penultimate Amazon reviewer (ok, we also have some person called Ash who also believes the latter) who gets defensive about his right to review books he hasn’t read.
Wow. This discussion thread has gone completely bonkers. I really don’t want to comment on it but only wish to factually note that John’s reviews are up for anyone to see on Amazon.com. If you read them, you would not make the argument that he has not read the books. Just take a look at his meticulous and comprehensive reviews of Dawkins’s or Coyne’s books for instance, or his devastating take-downs of the creationist IDiots Dembski and Meyer. By any stretch these reviews indicate that John has read the concerned volumes in detail.
Ash –
Somewhere up there, I linked to the thread wherin Kwok argues voraciously, that he has every right to review a book he didn’t read. I don’t give a fuck if that was the only time, nor do I care if the book he didn’t read was complete and utter shite (which it likely was). That is absolutely inexcusable and indefensible.
Whoa. For a moment there I thought this thread dried up!
I am not really going to comment on other books. All I can say is that John’s reviews of books on evolution and ID make it pretty clear that he has reviewed these only after thoroughly reading them.
@ DuWayne,
Thanks for demonstrating your sanctimonious batshit crazy. Telling me that you read Gordon Wood’s “The Creation of the American Republic” elsewhere here at Greg’s blog proves nothing about your intelligence (I read James Joyce’s “Ulysses” when I was that age, but didn’t understand it until I talked about it with Frank McCourt when I was a student in his sophomore English and creative writing class. And Frank’s opinion I respected highly, since he was the resident Joyce scholar in the Stuyvesant High School English department (There was another who was an expert on Herman Melville, and who, years later would give private tours on Melville living in New York City.).
Ash is absolutely right. And for the record, if you want to condemn me for not reading a book (I did that once BTW in support of PZ Myers who was sued by a brilliant nut who had graduated from a rival high school, Brooklyn Tech, but of course PZ has forgotten this.), then why not start first by condemning PZ for attacking Ken Miller (which he did in his September 9, 2006 Pharyngula entry entitled “Ken Miller, Creationist”, for attacking eminent evolutionary geneticist Francisco J. Ayala, and for attacking eminent molecular biologist Francis Collins. But wait, isn’t that what I am accused of in the opening sentences of the RationalWiki entry on me? You could substitute his name for mine and it would have a much better, more accurate fit.
Again, when I have criticized Jerry Coyne and Richard Dawkins, I have taken great pains to attack only their atheist views, not their extensive work as the notable evolutioary biologists that they are (in Dawkins’s case has been since I am not aware of any substantial research that he has published since 1990). I have no such compunction with PZ Myers since he is, by his own admission, a mediocre evolutionary developmental biologist. A mediocre evolutionary developmental biologist who exults in the harsh attacks on his critics that you and your fellow Pharyngulites are demonstrating here.
Finally, if anyone is obsessed, then it is PZ. He is the only PT blogger who will consistently delete any comments I post at his blog entries, while allowing real lunatics, like an odd assortment of “drive by” creationists to stop by his blog entries and post quite weird commentary that’s far removed from anything I have posted at his PT blog entries.
Kwok, seek help.
Seriously
Um John, I specified a particular incident from that site – not anything else, because I find that particularly repugnant. I don’t really fucking care what PZ Meyers has done, because here, I have been dealing with you – a fucking putz.
Unlike you, I don’t obsess about PZ Meyers and honestly don’t pay much attention to him. I don’t always agree with him and in fact often disagree with him. I am certainly not a “pharyngulite.” Shockingly, I don’t even think his tone is always all that appropriate. While I am known to get angry with the religious, I get angry when they actually do or say something repugnant.
But I vastly prefer his honest and open anger, to your slimy, obnoxious bullshit. People who are being assholes, should just be fucking assholes and not pretend they are doing something more socially acceptable. Rude is rude, with or without overtly rude language. The latter just happens to be more honest.
HE’S BAAAACK!
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2011/the-prodigal-returns/
It has always been my feeling that if he came back doing the SOS we should immediately reveal his true identity and everything we know about him. Sound fair?
Out him? Who? Do you mean Walter H. Smith, who is a grad student in Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa?
I don’t know if that would be right.
I think we need more hand-wringing first.